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SEGMENT: FARM ORGANIZATIONS

Harold Steele>LPL Interviews N-Z>LPL Interviews K-Z, Segment 11

SEGMENT: FARM ORGANIZATIONS,

duration 10:57
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FARM ORGANIZATIONS
His duties were as Chairman of the Board and CEO. Farm Bureau includes an insurance agency, and several companies. Purpose is to serve the farmer member. Eighteen AIA board members from districts. Served also as member of the federal board of directors. Farm Bureau structure is a representative form of governance. Has a 'constitution' of marching orders. Spent full time in Bloomington. Wife Margery stayed home. Created a farm corporation with son as managing director and wife as secretary. He was president for thirteen years. Describes his legacy as president. One issue was information. He saw a need for more than a monthly publication. Information director, Bill Allen was consulted and glad to do that. So Farm Week was started. Another issue was marketing. Dale Butz, a PhD in Economics, was consulted to develop way for farmers to sell at the top of the market. Another issue was leadership. Used his army training to steer his leadership. Ran into problems with bureaucracy in Farm Bureau and government, whom he saw lying to farmers about farm price drop.